Procedure

You should observe the following procedures:

Clothes

Most chemicals (70-85%) can be removed by getting the patient to take off contaminated clothes [8]. These clothing items should be treated as hazardous waste.

Dry decontamination

If a patient is contaminated with non-caustic chemicals they should undertake a process of dry decontamination which involves blotting and rubbing exposed skin gently with dry absorbent material such as blue roll and disrobing. All waste should be bagged for disposal.

Wet decontamination

If the patient is exhibiting signs of contamination with caustic chemicals such as itching, redness of the skin or burning of the eyes, wet decontamination should be performed

Detergents

Simple detergents can be used to remove chemicals that are not soluble in water and are least harmful to the skin, except for organophosphate poisoning where a 0.5% solution of sodium hypochlorite is more effective. The exceptions to this are chemicals such as Sodium which react violently with water.

Acids

Acids or bases should never be neutralised with their opposite as this produces an exothermic reaction which could cause burns.

Learning bite

removing clothes removes most chemicals. [Evidence grade: 4, grade of recommendation: D].